• Kurti for Le Monde: EU plan enables the de-facto recognition (media)
• Kurti meets Borrell, Lajcak; talk EU proposal and meet with Vucic (Telegrafi)
• Borrell optimistic for February 27 meeting, hopes parties will accept plan (DW)
• Osmani: Peace and security sustainable only when women included in all decision-making and policy-making processes (media)
• Blinken: Normalisation of Kosovo-Serbia relations essential to strengthen security in the Balkans (RFE)
• Osmani meets Admiral Munch at Munich Security Conference (media)
• Kurti meets INTERPOL Secretary General: Kosovo is a reliable partner (media)
• Gervalla: All countries to seriously address threats to international order (media)
• Lekaj: Kurti must not accept Association with executive competencies (Nacionale)
• Newborn monument dedicated to threat to Republic’s future (BIRN)
• Djuric’s statement triggers reactions in Kosovo (Koha)

Kurti for Le Monde: EU plan enables the de-facto recognition (media)

“I work hard to convince them to change their minds. They are in the minority, but they have the power of veto,” Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in an interview for Le Monde, referring to the five non-recognising EU member states. He added that the EU is Kosovo’s destiny and that by including Kosovo and other countries of the Western Balkans “the EU is protecting Europe”. “We expect to reach this objective in nine years, which is the average time to join the European Union,” he said.

Kurti said he supports the EU plan in principle and that it enables “the de facto recognition” between Kosovo and Serbia “as the one between the two Germanys in 1972”. “I support, in principle, the current plan supported by the EU, especially by France and Germany, which is based on democracy, territorial integrity, sovereignty, rule of law, self-determination … It enables the de facto recognition between the two countries, as the one between the two Germanys in 1972,” he said.

Kurti meets Borrell, Lajcak; talk EU proposal and meet with Vucic (Telegrafi)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti met at the Munich Security Conference with EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell and EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia Miroslav Lajcak. A press release issued by Kurti’s office notes that they discussed the process of dialogue and the EU proposal initiated by France and Germany and supported by the United States of America and Italy. “There were also discussions about the next meeting in Brussels scheduled for February 27,” it noted.

Borrell said after the meeting: “I met Kurti at the Munich Security Conference to discus the need to advance the EU proposal for the normalisation of relations with Serbia, which is key for Kosovo’s path toward the EU. We will meet in Brussels for a high-level meeting on February 27”.

Borrell optimistic for February 27 meeting, hopes parties will accept plan (DW)

EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, in an interview with Deutsche Welle, commented on the upcoming meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on February 27, saying that he hopes the parties will accept the French-German plan. He said the meeting will include full-day discussions and that he is optimistic.

“I have invited them to a full day of discussions because there is a proposal on the table. I hope they will be able to accept the proposal as a way to normalise relations between them,” Borrell said.

Osmani: Peace and security sustainable only when women included in all decision-making and policy-making processes (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said at the Munich Security Conference that “peace and security are sustainable only when women are included in all decision-making and policy-making processes”. “Kosovo is a unique success for implementing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and our goal is to turn it into a strategic address for substantial discussions and projects through the international forum for Women, Peace and Security,” Osmani said.

Blinken: Normalisation of Kosovo-Serbia relations essential to strengthen security in the Balkans (RFE)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Kosovo’s progress over 15 years of independence has been “remarkable for its great strides in developing a stable, multiethnic, inclusive democracy”. In a statement to mark the 15^th anniversary of Kosovo’s independence on February 17, Blinken said he looks forward to continued collaboration on the United States’ and Kosovo’s “shared priorities to strengthen security and stability” in Kosovo and the Western Balkans. “Normalization of relations with Serbia, centered on eventual mutual recognition, remains essential to this,” he added.

Osmani meets Admiral Munch at Munich Security Conference (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani met with Admiral Stuart B. Munsch, Commander of the NATO Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, at the Munich Security Conference. “Good to meet with Admiral Munsch at the Munich Security Conference. Expressed the gratitude of the people of Kosovo for KFOR’s role in ensuring peace and stability. We also discussed the need for continued close cooperation between our institutions and our partners,” Osmani tweeted after the meeting.

Kurti meets INTERPOL Secretary General: Kosovo is a reliable partner (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti met with the INTERPOL Secretary General Jurgen Stock on Sunday at the Munich Security Conference. “Kosova is a reliable partner & proven ally against cross-border & transnational crime. At the Munich Security Conference, I met with INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock to talk about our increasingly successful fight against organized crime and corruption. Sustainable development and rule of law go hand in hand,” Kurti wrote on Twitter after the meeting.

Gervalla: All countries to seriously address threats to international order (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, said in an interview with Israeli media Hayom, that all countries must seriously address the threat against international order. “If we fail to protect our world peace order, we can all end up again in an era of war, but this time in a completely different and global level,” she said.

Gervalla said that in the last two years, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has threatened Kosovo with war several times and that Serbia deployed its military troops at the border with Kosovo.

Read full interview at: https://bit.ly/3KmZxG8

Lekaj: Kurti must not accept Association with executive competencies (Nacionale)

MP from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Pal Lekaj said in an interview with the news website that the upcoming meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels on February 27 is important based on the political and historical process between Kosovo and Serbia.

Lekaj said Kurti must not forget that he should not accept an Association with executive competencies for Serbs in Kosovo. “And Vucic must not forget that Kosovo has been an independent and sovereign country for 15 years and is recognised by the majority of world countries,” he said.

Lekaj also said that he believes a final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is still far.

Newborn monument dedicated to threat to Republic’s future (BIRN)

Marking the 15th anniversary of Kosovo’s independence, Prishtina's iconic Newborn monument this year sends a powerful political message against the destruction of the republic, and against the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities.

The monument, which has already turned into a symbol that conveys a different message every year, is coloured blue and yellow this year and contains a warning against the possible destruction of the republic.

The Newborn letters this year changed to “No New BR” – and on the letters BR is written “Broken Republic”.

Author Fisnik Ismaili, has tagged Kosovo and Ukraine in relation to this year’s logo on his Facebook page.

In recent months, Kosovo is facing great international pressure to form an Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority, which is being opposed by Prime Minister Albin Kurti and civil society as a mono-ethnic entity that goes against the Constitution of the Republic.

Meanwhile, the message also refers to Ukraine, which has been facing Russian aggression for almost a year.

The official website of the Newborn Monument said that this year’s theme is provocative and represents the current situation in which Kosovo finds itself.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3ElVeH1

Djuric’s statement triggers reactions in Kosovo (Koha)

A statement by Serbia’s Ambassador to the United States, Marko Djuric, that the Serbian people is in a delicate situation in “the Serbian historic space” triggered many reactions in Kosovo. Vetevendosje parliamentary group head, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, reminded Djuric about the crimes that Serbia committed in Kosovo and in the former Yugoslavia. “Careful of the wolves that pretend to be sheep. Typical of Marko Djuric and other representatives of Serbia. Not only did they start and lose all the wars in the former Yugoslavia and killed over 130,000 people, but they still have the courage to make claims about the ‘Serbian world’. This is the ‘democratic’ and ‘constructive’ Serbia,” Kusari-Lila said. Kosovo’s Ambassador to North Macedonia, Florian Qehaja, said Djuric’s statement is both irritating and dangerous. Advisor to Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Fellanza Podrimja, said Djuric’s remarks suit the project of a ‘Greater Serbia’.